1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to high density memory devices based on programmable resistive material, like phase change based memory materials, and to methods for manufacturing such devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Chalcogenide materials are widely used in read-write optical disks. These materials have at least two solid phases, generally amorphous and generally crystalline. Laser pulses are used in read-write optical disks to switch between phases and to read the optical properties of the material after the phase change.
Chalcogenide materials also can be caused to change phase by application of electrical current. This property has generated interest in using programmable resistive material to form nonvolatile memory circuits.
One direction of development has been toward using small quantities of programmable resistive material, particularly in small pores. Patents illustrating development toward small pores include: Ovshinsky, “Multibit Single Cell Memory Element Having Tapered Contact,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,112, issued Nov. 11, 1997; Zahorik et al., “Method of Making Chalogenide [sic] Memory Device,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,277, issued Aug. 4, 1998; Doan et al., “Controllable Ovonic Phase-Change Semiconductor Memory Device and Methods of Fabricating the Same,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,253, issued Nov. 21, 2000.
In phase change memory, data is stored by causing transitions in the phase change material between amorphous and crystalline states using current. Current heats the material and causes transitions between the states. The change from the amorphous to the crystalline state is generally a lower current operation. The change from crystalline to amorphous, referred to as reset herein, is generally a higher current operation. It is desirable to minimize the magnitude of the reset current used to cause transition of phase change material from crystalline state to amorphous state. The magnitude of the reset current needed for reset can be reduced by reducing the size of the active phase change material element in the cell. One problem associated with phase change memory devices arises because the magnitude of the current required for reset operations depends on the volume of phase change material that must change phase. Thus, cells made using standard integrated circuit manufacturing processes have been limited by the minimum feature size of manufacturing equipment. Thus, techniques to provide sublithographic dimensions for the memory cells must be developed, which can lack uniformity or reliability needed for large scale, high density memory devices.
One approach to controlling the size of the active area in a phase change cell is to devise very small electrodes for delivering current to a body of phase change material. This small electrode structure induces phase change in the phase change material in a small area like the head of a mushroom, at the location of the contact. See, U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,064, issued Aug. 6, 2002, to Wicker, “Reduced Contact Areas of Sidewall Conductor;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,462,353, issued Oct. 8, 2002, to Gilgen, “Method for Fabricating a Small Area of Contact Between Electrodes;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,111, issued Dec. 31, 2002, to Lowrey, “Three-Dimensional (3D) Programmable Device;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,156, issued Jul. 1, 2003, to Harshfield, “Memory Elements and Methods for Making Same.”
Accordingly, an opportunity arises to devise methods and structures that form memory cells with structures that have small active regions of programmable resistive material using reliable and repeatable manufacturing techniques.